Backup QB depth helps ease the pain
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
One byproduct of the injuries to University of Hawai'i quarterback Tim Chang over the years is that we have learned what a proximal phalanx is as well as where the scaphoid bone is.
Hawai'i fans now know, for instance, that the former is commonly known as the pinkie and the latter is the wrist.
What Chang's injuries also have taught us is that, because you never know when there might be a non-displaced fracture of the proximal phalanx, it pays to have somebody else ready, just in case.
Especially with what shapes up as a rigorous and travel-intensive 13-game season fast approaching.
So, when the annual spring practice starts tomorrow morning in Manoa, what the Warriors will really be doing is shopping for insurance policies at several positions, quarterback foremost among them.
Over 15 days of practice scattered through April 24th, the Warriors need to come up with a capable understudy for Chang and an order of succession for their marquee position.
With Shawn Withy-Allen now gone to try to get his foot in the pro door and games against Southern California and Alabama looming not that far away, the backup role in what was the No. 2 passing offense in NCAA Division I-A is wide open.
And, as usual, in the June Jones era, it doesn't lack for candidates. The special congressional election wasn't this deep. Even in the spring, before the bulk of the new recruits report for duty, there will be six quarterbacks competing for three backup roles. "A couple more and I can start my own team," quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison likes to joke.
With Chang healthy, though sitting out most of the structured drills, the window is there to choose the backup and identify Nos. 3 and 4 on the depth chart. In this spring exists the rare luxury of being able to spread the work around several candidates now and determine who gets some of the premium time under center when fall camp opens in July.
Jason Whieldon, who had been No. 2 for the first two games last season, and Jeff Rhode, who saw limited duty, are the only two who have played for the Warriors. Kainoa Akina, who started seven games as a freshman at Eastern Michigan before sitting out last season, and Ryan Stickler, a promising freshman, will be two to keep an eye on. Kyle Rice, a junior college transfer, and freshman Preston Maloney fill out the draw.
In time, who knows, one of them may eventually emerge as the triggerman in the Warriors' post-Chang future.
In the meantime, the Warriors know they need to come out of this spring with an idea who the backup will be and then proceed to get him ready.
The memories of the ConAgra Foods Hawai'i Bowl loss to Tulane are still fresh enough to serve as a reminder that it is never too early to start developing some quarterback insurance.
